Study Guide for Music Appreciation: Medieval Music to the Baroque
Middle Ages: (450-1450)
Gregorian Chant:
- Attributed to Pope Gregory I, written for the singing of parts of the mass ordinary.
o Mass Ordinary: The parts of the mass which remain consistent, regardless of holidays, festivals, or other events.
Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei
- Originally, they were passed on through oral tradition, later they were notated on a 4-line staff using square notes called neumes.
- Anonymous: “Alleluia - Vidimus Stellam”: CD 1, Track 47
o Long melismas are expressions of joy and ecstacy.
o Texture altered by changing the number of voices singing.
- Bingen: “O Successores”: CD 1, Track 50
o Important words indicated by pitch and dynamic levels.
Developments of Gregorian Chant: Organum
- Originally, it was monophonic.
- By about 700AD, a second line was added which, at first, moved in parallel motion to the main melody. Later, this second part was given a musical line of its own.
- Eventually, the original chant became little more than a bass line and the upper voice became highly ornamental.
o Organum: A line of Gregorian chant plus one or more other melodic lines.
School of Notre Dame: Measured Rhythm
- Symbols defining meter and subdivision were introduced.
- The composers best associated with introducing this new trend were Leonin and Perotin.
Ars Nova:
- Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377): Musician and poet.
o Wrote Missa Notre Dame: The first polyphonic treatment of the entire mass ordinary.
Agnus Dei: CD 1, track 53
Written for four voices, all male.
The Renaissance: (1450-1600)
Sacred Music
- Two types
o Mass: musical treatment of the Mass Ordinary.
o Motet: sacred work containing no text from the Ordinary.
- Josquin Desprez: (1440-1521)
o Master of Renaissance Music who was even praised by Martin Luther. Wrote sacred and secular music.
o Ave Maria: CD 1, Track 56
Motet, written for four voices. (2 female, 2 male)
- Palestrina: (1525-1594)
o Italian composer who wrote only sacred music.
o Works have a restrained and serene quality, which make the text easier to understand. (As demanded by the Council of Trent)
o Pope Marcellus Mass: CD 1, Track 59
Written for six voices.
Secular Music:
- Madrigal: Piece for several solo voices set to a short poem.
o Combines homophonic and polyphonic textures.
o Uses word painting more often.
o Thomas Weelkes (1575-1623), an English composer, contributed music to “The Triumphs of Oriana” to honor Queen Elizabeth I.
“As Vesta Was Descending”: CD 1, track 59
- Instrumental Music: Mostly used for dancing.
The Baroque: (1600-1750)
Characteristics of music:
• Music is mainly polyphonic.
• A single piece or movement expresses one basic mood throughout.
• Rhythmic patterns are consistent throughout a piece, providing continuity and energy.
• Melodies are very elaborate and ornamental. (Not easy to remember)
Much use of “sequences” (Repetition of a melodic figure at different pitch levels)
• Dynamics also tend to stay consistent. When they do shift, the shift is very sudden.
o Terraced Dynamics (alternation between loud and soft)
• Basso Continuo
o The entire musical structure of a Baroque piece rested on the bass part.
o Basso Continuo consists of two instruments:
• One low string or wind instrument playing only the bass part.
• A keyboard instrument playing the bass part with the left hand and improvising chords with the right.
• The Orchestra is now based around instruments of the violin family and contains from ten to forty players.
Music in Baroque Society
- Music was written to meet the demands of churches and members of the aristocracy.
o Always, the demand was for “new” music.
- Music was a main source of diversion in the aristocracy.
o The size and number of the music groups in a court depended on the wealth of the lord.
o Music Director supervised performances, composed most of the music required, maintained instruments, and kept discipline among the musicians.
- Music was also used in churches
o Many churches used an organ, a choir, and an orchestra.
o It was in churches that most people heard music.
o The quality of the music composed by the church’s Music Director was usually a source of pride and prestige for the city.
o Music Directors made additional money through weddings and funerals, but this income was not consistent.
The Concerto Grosso and Ritornello Form
- Small group of soloists (Concertino) is pitted against a larger group (Tutti or Ripieno)
- Consists of several movements that contrast in tempo and character.
o Usually, there were 3 movements (Fast, slow, fast)
- Ritornello Form = Similar to songs with a chorus and verses.
o Piece begins with orchestra playing the Ritornello (chorus/refrain)
This theme is always played by the Tutti and returns periodically, played in different keys. However, it appears in fragments, not complete, as on the first playing.
Use Page 105 form outline as a guide to demonstrate.
o Solo passages offer new and fresh melodic material, softer dynamics, and can also expand upon the ideas from the ritornello melody.
- Bach, Brandenburg Concerto #5, Mvt. 1: CD 1, Track 63
Fugue
- Composition based on imitation of one main theme (called the subject).
o Over the course of the work, different melodic lines imitate the subject in either the tonic or the dominant, depending on what key the most recent playing was in. (Alternates, between Tonic and Dominant)
o Fugues generally convey a single mood.
o They can be played either by themselves or introduced by a short piece called a prelude.
o Most Baroque composers wrote many fugues.
J.S. Bach was considered a master of the fugue.
Opera
- Began in Italy around 1600A.D.
o Originally meant to set the stories of ancient Greek dramas to “modern” music.
o Initially written for ceremonial occasions among the nobility.
o Many opera patrons identified with Greek or Roman heroes and divinities.
Composers and librettists used this as a way to flatter the nobles.
- San Cassiano: The first public opera house.
o Opened in Venice in 1637.
This introduced opera to the general public, instead of it being used solely for the entertainment of the nobility.
- Virtuoso singers began making their appearance at this time.
o Castrato: A male singer who had been castrated before puberty.
Combined the lung power of a man with the vocal range of a woman. Their agility, breath control, and vocal quality provided a unique set of possibilities.
This was popular in Italy from 1600 to 1800.
They were the highest paid solo singers.
Impoverished families consented for this in the hope that their son would become a star.
- Music in opera is used to convey emotion, plot, and characters.
o Composer writes the music
Must have a good sense of timing, characterization, and theater because he paces the drama through the music.
o Librettist, or dramatist, writes the text (Libretto)
Composers and Librettists generally collaborate to make sure that the music and text fit together appropriately.
- Performers must be able to sing, act, and sometimes dance.
- There are two major types of operas
o Serious operas (Opera Seria)
o Comic operas (Opera Buffa)
- Opera has one to five acts which are subdivided into scenes.
o Each act consists of arias linked by recitatives.
Most arias were written in Ternary form (A B A).
• These were called da capo arias.
• On the reprise of the A section, the vocalist was expected to ornament the original melody to further display their virtuosity.
- Types of opera songs
o Aria
Song for solo voice accompanied by orchestra.
Is a complete piece unto itself: It could be sung out of context during an orchestra concert.
o Recitative
Connects one large musical number to another. (It is sung between the arias.)
Imitates the rhythms and overall character of spoken dialogue.
• Words are sung quickly, though clearly, and the pitch does not change often. (The singer will sing many words on the same pitch.)
• helps to move action forward quickly.
o Overture or Prelude
Usually, a purely instrumental work.
Played before the action starts to set the overall mood of the opera.
Baroque Composers
Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
- Italian Composer
o Composed “Orfeo” in 1607. It was regarded as the world’s first operatic masterpiece.
“Tu se’ morta” Recitative from Act II: CD 1, Track 71.
Orchestra helped to create atmosphere and enhance drama as well as accompany the singers.
Monteverdi also introduced new orchestral effects.
• Pizzicato (plucking the string)
• Tremolo (shaking the bow vigorously across the strings.)
o Appointed to the post of music director at St. Mark’s in Venice in 1613.
This was the most important church in Venice.
o Wrote “The Coronation of Poppea” (his other masterpiece) in 1642.
This was written for the San Cassiano.
Henry Purcell (1659(?)-1695)
- Considered to be one of the greatest English composers.
o Last internationally acclaimed native English composer until the 20th Century.
- Purcell wrote music for every possible form.
o Composed “Dido and Aeneas” in 1689
“Dido’s Lament”: CD 1, Track 72
This opera is considered by many to be the greatest English opera ever written.
Was written for students at a girls’ boarding school.
Only one hour long
Requires no elaborate stage machinery or virtuosic soloists.
Tells a tragic story of a defeated king (Aeneas) seeking a place to build a new city.
Purcell uses the current fears and superstitions about witchcraft when he creates the villains of the story.
o Purcell’s other stage music is in the form of plays with spoken dialogue and musical numbers (Overtures, choruses, dances, songs… akin to popular musicals.)
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
- Major composer of the Italian Late Baroque.
- Known as the “Red Priest” due to his hair and religious background. (Became a priest at 25)
- Taught violin, composed, and conducted music at the music school of the Pieta. (Institution for orphaned and illegitimate girls in Venice.)
o His orchestra of 40 girls presented concerts every Sunday and on every holiday and was considered one of the premiere musical groups in Italy.
o Wrote over 450 concerti grossi and solo concertos.
Concertos written for violin, cello, flute, piccolo, recorder, bassoon, oboe, and mandolin.
• Fast movements have melodic themes
• Slow movements are very song-like.
• “La Primavera” (Spring)
o 1st Mvt.: CD 2, Track 1
o 2nd Mvt: CD 2, Track 6
o 3rd Mvt: CD 2, Track 7
o This piece is the first in a series of four violin concerti entitled “The Four Seasons.”
o It is currently one of his most popular works.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
- Became court conductor for the prince of Cothen. (1717-1723)
o Wrote the “Brandenburg” Concertos at this time.
- Became music director (cantor) at St. Thomas Church, Leipzig. (1724-1750)
o Composed Cantatas
o Gave organ recitals. Also judged the construction of new organs.
o Also directed the Leipzig Collegium Musicum
Made up of students who put on concerts every week at a coffeehouse. His Orchestral Suites were written for these students.
4th Movement of Suite #3 in D: CD 2, Track 10.
- Wrote music in every form except opera.
o Fugue: See above. Remember, Bach was considered a master of fugue writing!
o Cantata: Large work, usually sacred, involving chorus and orchestra.
o Suite: Instrumental work derived from Renaissance Dance Music.
o Sometimes wrote music to demonstrate what could be done with a single voice or instrument.
Well-Tempered Clavier: Written to demonstrate a system of tuning a keyboard instrument.
George Fridric Handel (1685-1759)
- Master of Italian opera and English oratorio.
- Moved to England in 1712, became a favorite musician of Queen Anne, and turned out to be England’s most important composer.
o Added oratorios to his list of compositions.
Oratorio: An opera without any staging or acting.
“Messiah”
• “Ev’ry Valley”: CD 2, Track 16
• “Hallelujah”: CD2, Track 17
• Written in 1741, this work is a meditative oratorio.
• Written in three parts (Christ’s birth, Christ’s resurrection, Faith in eternal life.)
• Piece has a total of 50 movements.
o Variety is accomplished by the way in which the movements are grouped and contrasted.